Soma Austin

Let me start by saying that there should be humility in all things we do for Christ, those of you that know me, probably know that this is something with which I admittedly struggle.  With that in mind, I am going to refer often in this post to much more humble and wise men than I.

In researching this post, I stumbled upon a brief article written by Pastor John Piper in 1981…humbling in and of itself given that the majority of Soma Austin, myself included, was not yet born.  In Piper’s article, entitled A Call to Fast for Humility and Power, he reminds us of the story of Ezra. 

Ezra, being charged with the protection of 50,000 Israelites—a group larger, I would dare say, than any of us has come close to leading, became nervous.  As Piper says:

Ezra sets an example for us. He takes the promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14 and applies it to his situation and trusts God. The promise said, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven…” God makes his forgiving, healing and protecting work contingent upon our humbling ourselves, turning from sin and seeking him in prayer. So Ezra and his troops humbled themselves (8:21) and sought God earnestly (8:23) and God heard.

Ezra had commanded his troops to fast in that they would seek God’s wisdom.  An example from the New Testament, in Matthew 17:19-21 (NIV), illustrates what happens when we do not possess enough faith in the Father, I will write out the whole passage as many modern translations exclude Matthew 17:21:

 ¹⁹Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"

 ²⁰He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." ²¹But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.

Charles Spurgeon preached on this passage near the end of one of his sermons, “A Desperate Case – How to Meet it”.  Spurgeon saw the whole of Christendom as a matter of faith, following the mustard seed analogy, and believed that while preaching if someone were not saved that it was because the preacher did not have enough faith that they would be.  Spurgeon’s take on fasting was this:

And what is fasting for? That seems to be the difficult point. It is evidently accessory to the peculiar continuance in prayer, practised oftentimes by our Lord, and advised by him to his disciples. Not a kind of religious observance, in itself meritorious, but a habit, when associated with the exercise of prayer, unquestionably helpful.

In keeping this post brief, I will end on that note, asking that you take into consideration that fasting with prayer is a powerful tool that God uses to remind us that he is Lord.

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